


Doubt

by evilphrog



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Character Development, Historical, M/M, Noah's Ark, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 18:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16497590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilphrog/pseuds/evilphrog
Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale meet up for the first time since the garden, and talk about the ineffable plan.  Aziraphale begins to have doubts about heaven.





	Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone. This is my first ever publicly posted fanfic. It hasn't been betaed, so if you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out to me. I'm a whore for feedback, so let me know what you think. I might turn this into a multi-chapter fic following Aziraphale's character development through history. But for now, it's a one-shot.

Aziraphale was walking along the edge of the ark, checking up on everything.  The humans were asleep, but he kept guard over them. Not that he knew much about boats, but one had to have faith that the right course of action would present itself, should the need arise.  And it wasn’t like he needed to sleep, anyways. 

Lightning flashed, and Aziraphale thought he saw something creeping over the edge of the ark.  Something small and slithery, and very familiar. His eyes narrowed. He should have known he would be making an appearance, eventually.  After all, it wasn’t like there was anywhere else to go. Privately, Aziraphale had closely investigated every one of the snakes they had brought aboard, and was firmly  _ not _ disappointed to find them to all be typical varieties.  He pulled himself up to as intimidating a height as his new form would allow, and marched forward.

“You know, this ark is supposed to be reserved for His faithful, only.  Demons weren’t on the list.” 

The snake glanced up in surprise, then reformed himself into something more human-shaped.  It seemed to be a new look for him, something he wasn’t quite used to. He pulled himself up onto two legs, and squinted into the eyes of the man who had called him out.  There was something about that voice…

“Hang on, I know you!  You’re that angel from the garden!  The one with the sword! Wow, you’re looking...different, these days.” His yellow eyes roved up and down Aziraphale’s new form, making him feel oddly self-conscious.  He wasn’t exactly comfortable with his human body.

“You’re one to talk.  Aziraphale,” He held up his hand, the way the other humans did when greeting each other. “And you’re Crawly, is that right?”

“Crowley, now.  Can’t go around walking on two legs and calling yourself Crawley.  It just doesn’t fit.” He grinned. “So, what have you been up to? Last I saw, you were being recalled back upstairs.”

Aziraphale thought momentarily about how best to answer.  Truthfully, he was very lucky not to have been cast out entirely, after his stunt with the sword.  He wasn’t thrilled about being exiled to Earth, but it was much better than ending up like Crowley.  Not that he would have admitted that to the demon. He was The Enemy, after all. Instead, he tried to go for impressive.

“You’re looking at the new Principality of Earth.  It is my solemn duty to watch over the humans, and protect their souls from corruption.  By...you know,  _ your lot.” _

Crowley looked momentarily offended. “ _ My _ lot?! He scoffed.  That’s a bit rich, don’t you think?  We’re not the ones who just wiped out all life outside this little boat!”  His eyes darkened. “Do you know what it was like out there, Angel? Thousands screaming, begging for mercy!  And for what? All they did was use the free will He gave them!” Crowley was starting to tremble. HIs hands were clenched in tight fists.

Aziraphale was quite taken aback.  Was the demon feeling...sorry for the humans?  He remembered what he had been told about demons.  About how they delighted in evil and suffering. It didn’t line up with what he was seeing of Crowley, who looked very close to having a complete breakdown over the righteous smiting of the past week.  He tried to think back to the Rebellion. He hadn’t known any of the fallen angels very well. They had always hung around in different circles. He felt a doubt he hadn’t experienced in a long time start to bubble to the surface, and firmly pushed it down. 

“Look,” Aziraphale reached out uncertainty, and placed a comforting hand on Crowley’s shoulder.  The demon flinched slightly, but didn’t pull away. “This is all part of the plan. It will all work out alright, eventually, you’ll see.”  He wondered how convincing he sounded. Probably not very, judging by Crowley’s disbelieving scoff.

“If I believed in the plan, I’d still be Up There.”  Crowley laughed, bitterly. “The way I see it, there is no plan.  If there was, He wouldn’t need to wipe the board and start over.”  

Aziraphale was quiet for a moment.  He looked out at the choppy waves, and privately felt there was a lot of truth in what Crowley said.  He had grown quite fond of some of the humans out there. He had felt a great uneasiness when he was told to guard over only one family, and leave the rest to die.  He hadn’t been able to fully help himself, and had sent dreams to a few of the nicer people he knew, ways to build boats of their own. Not that it did any good. Noah was the only one who had followed through.

He sighed.  It was thoughts like this that had gotten him stuck as a Principality, in the first place.  He felt himself come to another of his decisions, and started speaking before he could help himself.

“You can stay here, if you want.  Wait out the storm. It’s only supposed to last a couple more weeks, and then we can all start putting this behind us.  But you can’t stay looking like that.” He gestured to Crowley’s body. “The rest of this lot are bound to notice another human walking around.  But I doubt one more snake would make much difference.”

“Crowley’s eyes lit up, and he flashed a tentative half-smile.  “You don’t mind? It’s been exhausting having to swim around these past few days.  I could really go for a nap.” 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.  Just… don’t go causing any trouble.”  Yes, some ground rules would help. Make this seem less like Aziraphale was blatantly inviting a demon to come aboard the vessel reserved for God’s chosen people.  “If I catch you messing with anybody, I’ll throw you overboard.” He gave what he sincerely hoped was an intimidating and forceful glare.

“Crowley held up his hands non-threateningly.  “No, don’t you worry about that. Plenty of time to make the humans miserable later.  I’m sure they have enough to be getting on with, at the moment. You won’t even know I’m here.”  He shrunk back down to his more familiar shape, and slithered away. 

Aziraphale shook his head, and stared out over the sea.  He really hoped he was doing the right thing. He was supposed to have mercy and love for all living things, after all.  Hopefully, the demon would keep his end of the bargain. He really did seem like he was just exhausted, poor dear. Quite against his will, Aziraphale started imagining what it must have been like, to be stuck on the ground as the floods had come in.  He imagined the panic, the fear, and the overwhelming amount of death. 

He thought about the one young man who had a talent for telling stories.  Aziraphale had loved sitting around for hours, listening to tales of the giants who moved in the night sky, and how they warred with each other.  He would be dead now. He knew, technically, that the man had been guilty of the sin of blasphemy, but he had been so bright and imaginative. Now, he was destined for an eternity in Hell.  He contemplated, briefly, asking Crowley to check up on the man, but decided against it. He was bad enough at his job, without getting involved with a demon. Still, he felt a pang of guilt.

All these thoughts were getting to be too much for Aziraphale to handle.  It wouldn’t be called faith if it was always easy, he told himself. Sometimes, you just have to trust in the ineffable.  He was an angel. Angels believed in the plan. And he had humans to watch over. With great determination, he shoved all his thoughts back down, and continued on his way around the boat.  

\-----

To his great surprise, Crowley kept his word.  Aziraphale didn’t see a single sign of him for the entire rest of the flood.  By the time the water receded, and the boat ran aground, he was wondering if the demon had jumped ship, after all.  But as he was helping Noah carry everything ashore, he caught sight of a green tail whipping through the fresh grass.  He thought briefly about following after him, but decided against it. It wouldn’t do for him to go around seeking the company of evil forces.  Still, he couldn’t help the vague hope that they would run into each other again. He really wasn’t so bad, for a demon.


End file.
